The 2025–26 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by Eric Henderson in his first season as head coach, played their home games at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).
The Bulldogs debuted their third head coach in three years, after previous head coach Ben McCollum left the team after just one season to take the head coach position at Iowa. On March 28, Drake named South Dakota State's Eric Henderson as the team's new head coach.
This season marked the first time since 2022 that Drake failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, as they were defeated by UIC in Semifinal of Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Previous season The Bulldogs finished the 2024-25 season 27–3, 17–3 in MVC play to finish in first place. In the MVC tournament, they defeated Southern Illinois, Belmont, and Bradley to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 11 seed in the West region, where they upset Missouri in the first round, earning Drake's first NCAA tournament win since 1971. In the second round, they lost to No. 3 seed Texas Tech.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Cam Manyawu 3 F 6'8" 230 So Kansas City, MO Transferred to Iowa Isaiah Jackson 4 G 6'3" 180 GS Independence, MO Graduated Tavion Banks 6 G/F 6'7" 200 Jr Kansas City, MO Transferred to Iowa Kael Combs 11 G 6'4" 190 So Nixa, MO Transferred to Iowa Bennett Stirtz 14 G 6'4" 180 Jr Liberty, MO Transferred to Iowa Mitch Mascari 22 G 6'5" 200 GS Geneva, IL Graduated Isaia Howard 23 G 6'5" 200 Fr Plattsburg, MO Transferred to Iowa Nate Ferguson 24 F 6'8" 220 RS Sr Lemont, IL Graduated Joey Matteoni 44 F 6'8" 215 Fr Overland Park, KS Transferred to Iowa Daniel Abreu 54 F 6'6" 220 GS Springfield, MO Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Braden Appelhans 0 G 6'6" 190 RS Jr Blue Springs, MO New Mexico Owen Larson 1 G 6'1" 190 So Estherville, IA South Dakota State Jalen Quinn 3 G 6'3" 190 Sr Tuscola, IL Loyola Chicago Wilguens Jr. Exacte 7 F 6'6" 230 Jr Montreal, QC Bowling Green Okku Federiko 8 F 6'9" 210 So Helsinki, FI South Carolina Jaehshon Thomas 22 G 6'3" 185 Sr Aurora, IL Charlotte Isaiah Carr 24 C 6'11" 235 Sr Las Cruces, NM Denver
2025 Recruiting Class
Preseason The Bulldogs entered the season as the defending Arch Madness champions and were picked to finish sixth in the conference for the upcoming season. Senior transfers Jalen Quinn, Isaiah Carr, and Jaehshon Thomas were named to the 2025-26 MVC Men's Basketball "Players to Watch" list.
On October 11, the Bulldogs traveled to Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas to take on the Wichita State Shockers in a non-traditional scrimmage. There was no official score kept, and although fans could attend and watch the event, no winner or loser was declared. Drake coach Eric Henderson stated that fans "[Shouldn't] read too much into [the result]. Both teams had moments where they were pretty good, and we both learned a lot about our teams."
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""|Non-Conference Regular Season
!colspan=9 style=""|Conference Regular Season
!colspan=9 style=""|
Source
See also 2025–26 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team
References